Miss Marple - The Moving Finger
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
“The Moving Finger” is one of my favourite Agatha Christie books because not only is it a classic whodunit of classic Christie proportions but it’s also an extremely sweet love story with some brilliant characters.
Poor Jerry Burton is a Royal Air Force pilot who has been shot down in action in the Second World War. Ordered to convalesce by his doctor in a quiet countryside backwater he and his sister, Joanna, decide to rent a small cottage in the rural tranquillity of the small village of Lymstock. They soon settle down to the gentle ways of the small village and get to know the local characters; prim and proper Miss Emily Barton (from whom they have rented the cottage) Dr Griffith, shy and devoted to his patients and who seems to have taken a shine to Joanna. Then there’s Dr Griffith’s sister the redoubtable Aimee, hale and hearty and forever trying to organise everyone else. Finally there’s the Symmington family consisting of Richard Symmington the local solicitor, his wife their two sons and their very attractive and young governess Elsie Holland. Mrs Symmington also has a daughter from her first marriage the awkward but somehow charming Megan
All seems to be going well until the Burtons receive a poisonous letter and it would seem that several other of the villagers have also received one or more of these malicious letters. Unfortunately one is sent to Mrs Symmington and it would seem that the contents disturb her so much that shortly after receiving the letter she takes her own life. When shortly after this tragic event the Symmington’s maid is murdered the police are called in and they begin work to find out who is behind the letters.
The local vicar’s wife, Mrs Dane Calthrop also decides to take action and call in an old friend of hers, a petite and frail looking little old lady call Miss Jane Marple.
As I say, not only is the book a classic Christie murder mystery will all the usual ingredients of jealous loves, legacies and social classes but it also has a double love story concerning both Jerry and Joanna Burton. Although the love story seems unlikely and old fashioned when reading it today it still comes over as extremely charming.
Although Miss Marple does appear in the book, she doesn’t pop up until the last couple of chapters so any big fans of hers might be slightly disappointed, but considering the rest of excellent value of the book they have no reason to be so.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Agatha Christie's Miss Marple has been tremendously well served by Joan Hickson, first on television and now on CD. This unabridged version of my favourite Marple is excellent; JH makes the most of the various characters and the nuances of the plot. Although 'The Moving Finger', like 'Murder at the Vicarage', has a first person narrator (here the injured pilot Jerry), JH takes this in her stride and really conjures up the atmosphere of the village in the grip of the deadly poison pen. Can Miss Marple intervene to prevent more deaths? Is the Pope a Catholic?
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio Cassette
In a forward Agatha Christie provided for a reprint of this 1943 book, she wrote of the pleasure it was to tackle one of the classic themes, and of the great pleasure she found in writing this book with its "cosy village atmosphere and characters".
The classic theme here is the phenomenon of the Poison Pen. The book is one of her shorter mysteries but one of the most cunningly devised. Adept at constructing puzzles, she opts for presenting this one as a first person narrative. The narrator is a young man recuperating from a flying accident, told by his doctor that he must "go and live in the country and lead the life of a vegetable for at least six months". With his sister he rents a cottage in a small English village "of no importance whatsoever".
Accordingly, when the poison pen letters begin circulating, it is this narrator, a stranger to the village, who decribes things as he sees them, retails all the local gossip, and reports everyone's suspicions about the writer of the letters. A murder and an apparent suicide follow, and we read of the efforts of the local police to investigate.
Miss Marple thus is introduced late in the book and, of course, she proves better at solving the mystery than everybody else. You will be an astute and alert reader if you discover whodunit before Miss Marple reveals all.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Poison pen letters and murder
Jerry Burton and his sister Joanna lease a house in the country to enable him to recover from serious injuries. He has been ordered to lead a quiet life with no upsets. Read more
Published 3 days ago by Damaskcat
Excellent reading of a classic mystery novel...
This is my top favourite of all of Agatha Christie's books, and this reading by the marvellous Joan Hickson is pretty much perfect. Read more
Published 7 months ago by FictionFan
Great Agatha Christie Murder Mystery!
A series of strange happenings in a small village leads to Miss Marple being invited by her friend to investigate. Read more
Published 7 months ago by David Parkin
GREAT
This was a fab listen.Hubby put it on a we did not speak a word for the whole journey.We stopped at a 'Little chef.' And had to get a take away so we could listen in the car. Read more
Published on 10 Sep 2009 by ethel bridge
Tweaked to include Miss Marple?
This is the third Miss Marple novel penned by Christie, and it almost seems like it has been tweaked deliberately to include her. Read more
Published on 14 Jun 2009 by J. R. Johnson-Rollings
What a lisp!
Yes, Joan Hickson may have been a wonderful Miss Marple, but she really shouldn't have read audiobooks. Read more
Published on 12 April 2009 by Marie
Words, the Most Dangerous Weapons of All
"Such a peaceful smiling happy countryside - and down underneath, something evil..."
-- The Moving Finger, p. Read more
-- The Moving Finger, p. Read more
Published on 6 Nov 2008 by Ruth King
Bleak and beautiful
Agatha Christie is an English prodigy. She is able to transform some banal and particularly obnoxious situation into some kind of normal banality. Read more
Published on 22 Jan 2008 by Jacques COULARDEAU
This is a great book
I really enjoyed this novel, it was a great read. I was certain I had figured out who the murderer was and I hoped I had gotten it wrong because quite often I am able to guess the... Read more
Published on 13 Oct 2007 by I AM ME
Moving Finger
This book is a departure from her usual in that its not Miss Marple who features as the main lead, but Jerry as main figure is likeable as is his sister with the dual love... Read more
Published on 26 July 2005
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